Living in the Land of the Dead
by HarryPotter009
Summary: She was a walker that was completely different from the rest. Unlike the others, she could think and dream. She was a human trapped in a walker's body and she had lost all hope until a breather got stuck in a tank in Atlanta. Now, she travels with an unlikely hero who shows her what it means to once again be human. TWD universe with some ideas based on Warm Bodies.
1. Memories Kept Alive

_**Living in the Land of the Dead**_

_**Chapter 1 – Memories Kept Alive...**_

I suppose I had a name once... I've forgotten now. These past two months, I've forgotten everything about myself except for a few things. I'm a female, I'm around 19 years old and everyone in my family is dead. Everything else has been erased, or stored in my brain to remember later.

We're all dead, every single one of us. We are all infected with something that brings us back, rises us up after we die, but we are never the same again. Never again will we see our families or laugh, cry, smile, love. We are bound to this earth as demons, eating the flesh of anything that has a heartbeat, even if it is a family member.

But, I guess being dead isn't so bad; I mean I have so much time to do what I want. Of course, what I want to do most of all is satiate the hunger that is always deep in my rotting belly. No matter what I eat, I'm always hungry, always looking for more. The most I get nowadays is part of a heart or a small patch of skin, never the good parts. Brains are what we look for, the thick grey matter that quenches our hunger for weeks on end. Our cells crave the stuff but you're a lucky walker if you get even a tiny slither.

We've been wandering around this city for a month and half now, waiting for breathers to come and walk into our trap, waiting for our chance to satiate our ever-growing hunger. The city is crumbling around us, but I'm the only one who notices. I'm also the only walker to go around (or is it shamble around?) the city, thinking of anything other than eating. But, then again, I'm also the only walker that actually thinks... The others are stupid, dumb and slow. They just want food, whether it's a dog or a horse or a human, it doesn't matter. Food is food, right?

There are three types of walkers you should know about and I've named them all so that they're easily identified. The elders are the oldest and the most severely decomposed. Most of the time, they wander around with flesh falling off. They're also the slowest and possibly the least hungry. I think that their stomachs are so decomposed that they can't even stomach food anymore (Stomach, get it? Thank you, thank you, I'll be here for eternity).

Then there are the biters. They're decomposing, but at a slow rate and they're also the smartest. Biters hide in cars, pretending to be dead and then pounce on unsuspecting victims. They're slow, but cunning and they don't care who you are, they'll push you out of the way, kill you or do whatever it takes to have the choicest part of the body.

The newest once I have called newborns. I'm a newborn because I'm hardly decomposed at all. We're the hungriest and we can only go for a couple of weeks without food before we start rotting faster. Newborns are stupid with the hunger instinct completely taking over. Which is why I don't understand why I'm so different from the others; I do remember becoming a walker though. Out of all the memories to be erased, this one is the clearest and the most vivid in my mind.

I was with a group of people, I know that much. There were... five of us I think, three guys and two girls. We were raiding an abandoned house when a truck pulled up outside and a group of angry men stormed in, pointing guns in our faces. I remember I tried to stop one of them from shooting a guy and I think he may have been my boyfriend. Anyway, the bad guy shot me in the chest and left me there to die while my other friends were led away.

The whole transformation is a blur but I do recall seeing complete darkness before I opened my eyes and had a hunger for flesh. But I guess something happened during the transformation, something that has made me a complete outcast in the world of the undead. It's like I'm in between a walker and a breather; like I have the appearance of a walker but my brain is still completely functional. Either way, I hate the way I live, _especially _because I'm the only one of my kind.

My dead stomach shifts uncomfortably as I realise how empty it is. It's been almost a week since my last meal and I'm starving to death (well, I would if I wasn't already dead). The rest of the walkers shamble aimlessly up and down the streets, occasionally bumping into one another, causing dead bodies to fly everywhere. I'm smarter than this; I stick close to the walls where I won't disturb anyone else. I keep my head down because even though I'm one of them, most know I'm different and they don't like it.

Forget what I said earlier, being dead really sucks. I think that the thing I miss the most is mindless gossip. You know, meeting up with friends over coffee and talking about absolutely uninteresting stuff that in no ways affect your life. I miss giggling over boys and swooning over the hottest celebrities and actors. I think all in all, I miss the small things that make us human. Like, I miss the mundane task of going to the bathroom every couple of hours. It was what made us human; performing this essential task that ensures our survival.

My heart lays motionless in my chest; I no longer feel the comforting bump of it as I relax, or the heavy thumping of it as I see a boy I like. My heart hasn't pumped for a month and a half, and the thought that it will never move again saddens me. Of course, I can't vocalize my worries with the others because I can only say minimal words and besides, they wouldn't listen to me. In this world populated by the dead, I sure do feel lonely...

* * *

The rain was starting to pour down as the herd moved toward the centre of the city. I pushed a heavily-decomposed body out of my way, breaking one of the arms off in the process. I winced in disgust and threw the arm down before pushing my way through the crowd once more.

The scent of flesh and blood was clouding the air and the herd surged forward, though I knew by now that whatever it was, there would be hardly anything left. A change in the air sent a whiff of the aroma towards me. _This isn't human flesh. _It smelt animal, something big like a cow. But what would a cow be doing in the middle of Atlanta? I thought that they were all fenced in at their respective farms.

My appetite completely left my body when I pushed an elder aside and noticed it was a torn up horse on the hot concrete and not a breather. I sighed, regretting not eating last week when I had the chance. If I kept going at this rate, I was going to become a biter.

A noise attracted my attention and I whipped my head around, my greasy, dead blonde hair hitting me in the face. There was someone under the tank that was parked in the middle of the road. I remember the military coming, trying to eradicate us only to be run over. Say what you will about the dead, but we sure know how to ruin a party.

I lifted my nose into the air, trying to catch the scent of what was under there. Yep, definitely a breather, but why hadn't anyone noticed? I suppose that the horse was distracting them, but surely human flesh is much more interesting.

The breather was shuffling under the tank and we locked eyes for a brief second before he clambered up into the tank's door. At the sound of the closing door, some newborns and elders crept over to the tank, leaving biters to pick at the straps of the horse. Newborns started to climb the tank and I tried to pull them off, sometimes pulling arms and legs down instead of full bodies.

"Get... Off..." I growled, my throat screaming in pain as I used my vocal chords for the first time in weeks. A newborn screeched at me and continued to climb the tank. Damn it, this was going to be harder than I thought. I didn't know what it was, but I knew that this breather was not the same as other breathers. He seemed determined to live, while the others gave up as soon as they saw our herd. The light in their eyes died when they realised they were going to be devoured in a matter of seconds.

Not that I can blame them of course, I too was scared of the walkers before I became one. The sound of them sent my heart beating so uncontrollably, I thought I would have a heart attack right where I stood. Now that I am one, I don't find them frightening or scary; I find them a thing to be pitied.

Every walker in the street whipped their head toward the tank as a gunshot came from inside. My dead heart sank; the breather had realised it was too late and had done the deed. I sighed, coughing up dust as my lungs filled with fresh oxygen and breathed out old, stale air. We didn't have to breathe, it was a voluntary thing but sometimes I liked to do it, just so I could feel human again.

"Damn... It..." I muttered to myself and turned on the spot, ready to head back into my house, where I lived when I was a human. The thing was falling apart but I tried to keep it maintained as best as I could.

Before I could make it down the street, I heard a clanging coming from inside the tank. I turned around, curious as to what was causing the noise. The breather was dead, wasn't he? I turned around and headed back towards the tank, ears straining to see if I could hear anything else. There was silence before the breather crashed through the top of the tank. He was alive...


	2. A big apology to the readers!

Hi everyone.

A huge, huge, huge, sorry for forgetting to label this as a crossover between The Walking Dead and Warm Bodies.

In case no one had guessed it, the breather in the tank is Rick and the walker is a random walker who can think, unlike the other walkers. This idea of a smart zombie is based on the book, Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. The setting is STILL The Walking Dead, with a zombie based on the book.

I just completely forgot about the whole crossover thing and I really hope that people will still read it. Eventually, the walker will meet with Rick and his group, I'm just working up to it.

Thank you for pointing this out and thank you to the kind reviews and follows this story has already garnered.

HarryPotter009


	3. Heart Beat

He began to shoot; not looking at what he was shooting, just picking them off like flies. Didn't he realise that he was going to bring every walker in the city to him? Sound was a major thing for us; we could pinpoint where a noise came from for miles.

The breather jumped off the tank and rolled into the street, screaming as he hit the ground hard. I pushed some newborns out of the way as I, all of us, followed him into the back streets. It was only then that I noticed he was in a cop's uniform, but he wasn't from around here; our uniform had been different. He kept shooting, my fellow zombies falling to the ground, never to reawaken. It was kinder this way, and I was almost tempted to throw myself in front of a bullet sometimes, but this one was different. I felt like he could save me somehow, like I had to follow him or else I would be this way forever.

My fellow walkers were closing in around me as the prospect of fresh meat drove them to push their dead limbs and muscles to the limit. Damn, some of them, especially the newborns, were quite fast. But, I still had the use of the majority of my brain and I could easily use it when I needed it.

The breather was shooting his way towards the alley down the road and I followed him, trying to keep a safe enough distance between us so he wouldn't shoot me. I hid myself behind a particularly rotted walker, hoping that the breather wouldn't turn around, but in case he did I had this barricade between us.

I had just rounded the corner when I heard another breather yell. "Not dead! Let's go, run! Run faster!" Growling, I pushed more unwanted oxygen into my stale lungs. My dead legs, so used to shambling, protested loudly while my stale knees creaked into action. I tried not to panic when I heard a scream and the breather vanished.

_Shit_, I yelled inside of my head. I continued to push the walkers out of the way, making them tumble like bowling pins, crashing into walls and other walkers. When I rounded the corner, I saw the breather up with another breather, a young Asian man. A wave of unfamiliar relief washed over me as I watched him talk to the younger man. _Good, he's ok._

_Bu dum_. I frowned and looked around when I heard a beating sound. It sounded muffled, like a hammer hitting a log wrapped in cloth. The only other sounds I could hear were the walkers constantly growling and groaning, trying to reach up and grab the breathers.

I decided to think nothing of it and I stared up at my breather. He quickly turned around and made brief eye contact with me. Prodding the young Asian on the shoulder, my breather pointed at me. "There, that walker keeps following me!"

The young Asian rolled his eyes and looked at where my breather was pointing. I tried to slip inconspicuously into the shadows of the surrounding buildings but he saw me anyway. "Dude, all of these walkers are following us. This one isn't special." He said, rolling his eyes and turning to climb up the ladder.

My breather shook his head but followed the other man up the ladder and onto the roof of the building. "She keeps looking at me. She's... different I think."

"She? _She _is a dead person trying to eat your internal organs! _It _isn't doing anything different from the others."

They continued to climb over the roofs while I followed behind, in the shadows; **always** in the shadows. I had learnt to hide myself from breathers, so as to avoid being killed (again). I found that the shadows were always the best hiding place; the breathers tended to keep a constant eye open over their shoulders, but they never paid attention to the shadows.

As the breathers made their way over the roof, I could hear what they were saying.

"Are you the one that barricaded the alley?" My breather asked.

"Somebody did; I guess when the city got overrun whoever did it was thinking that not many geeks would get through."

_Geeks?_ Since when were we referred to as geeks?

The breathers hopped over a small wall and headed over to the centre of the roof, out of my sight. Now I couldn't see them, smell them or hear them at all. I was giving up hope of seeing them when I heard a clanging in the next alleyway. I pumped my legs again and this time, I could walk faster. I felt... stronger.

"I'm back. We've got a guest plus four geeks in the alley." I heard the Asian man say and the breathers popped out the other side of the building I was scaling.

Before I could move any further, two men banged their way out of a door, dressed completely in SWAT gear and started beating the walkers in the alley. The bats went flying in all directions, collecting the walker in the head, arms and chest. I slinked back into the shadows and tried to slow my breathing.

Wait... my breathing? I had never really had any need to expel and collect oxygen, but now my lungs were doing it automatically. I almost felt human again.

_Bu dum, bu dum._ There was the noise again; the muffled beating, like a hammer hitting cloth. I looked at my chest and saw it move slightly. Curious, I placed my hand over my dead heart. It couldn't be...

"Hey, there's that walker you were talking about." The Asian man said and I stared at the breathers, trying to figure out what to do. "What is it doing?"

My breather looked at me and the beating happened again, this time stronger. _Bu dum, bu dum, bu dum. My heart was beating again!_

Before I could do anything, the breathers grabbed me by the arms. I tried to grab at them, wrenching at them to let me go. The world went dark as a bag was placed over my head.

* * *

**Ugh, this chapter was crap, I know! But I have lost a lot of motivation lately and I'm not sure where this story is going anymore. I used to, but it's completely left my brain now. I hope you guys didn't hate it though. I wouldn't blame you if you did. And sorry for it being so short! **

**And sorry to refer to Rick as 'my breather' but I couldn't think of any other way of referring to him, seeing as the smart walker doesn't know his name.**


	4. Bad Ideas

**I cannot express how amazing all of you are. Last month (sorry about being so slow!) when I posted chapter 2, I thought it was awful and confusing, but all of your wonderful reviews have made me feel so much better. Around 31 follows so far and I grow happier with each new one! Thank you guys so much for your kind and inspirational words. You make it all worth it.**

* * *

I remember quite a bit from my human life. The moments lay dormant in my brain, waiting for me to pick one up and examine it, explore it, relive it. My life was happy, that much I remember. Summers spent on the coast with family and friends, Christmas with all of the extended family and evenings spent with my parents.

My parents... I can't remember their names and it's something I search for everyday in my addled brain. My mother's name started with an 'L' I think and it was an usual name but pleasant to the ear. She was soft and warm, and she always smelt like fresh bread and lavender.

My father was strict, but he did it all out of love. I don't recall much, but I remember that he raised us right. We were all polite and courteous and we worked hard for what we wanted. Our father always taught us the value of a dollar and he would tape a dollar to the bottom of a chair, make us get up and claim it and explain that you 'had to get off your ass to earn a buck'.

I was close with my siblings I think. A pretty woman's face floats in front of my eyes sometimes and I know that she is my eldest sister. I was the baby of the family and I think I also had a brother.

These memories; these faces, they keep me alive. Maybe I'm still walking around because I'm not satisfied with just this. Sometimes, I think I need to find them, to have closure. I can but pray that they are not wandering freaks like me.

But hey, I guess I'm not wandering anymore, seeing as I have a bag over my head and I'm handcuffed to a pipe. As if being dead wasn't enough...

* * *

"It's dangerous; we have to kill it now." A woman's voice said in the background.

"Andrea, she isn't the same as the others. Not once has she tried to bite or eat us. Doesn't that say something?"

"All that's saying is that maybe it's full and not interested in a slice of meat right now."

I heard a man sigh. "You've seen those things out there, haven't you? They _never _feel full; they're always looking for more, no matter how much they've had."

My head was thumping and my chest was no longer pulsating; so much for having a beating heart again. I could feel the cold handcuffs around my wasted wrist and I could hear from the clanking that I was connected to a pipe.

Trying not to make too much noise, I jiggled the handcuff to see if it was properly locked and groaned internally when I realised that there was no way to escape. Frustrated, I hit the wall and moaned when I felt a dull pain in my hand. The group of breathers spun around and looked at me, on edge as though I was a danger.

_Get your shit together_, I thought bitterly to myself, _of course they think you're dangerous; you're a walker. Their families have probably been ripped apart, figuratively and literally, by your kind._

"You see? It's not safe for it to be around us." The woman, Andrea, said. "We all have families to go home too and this stupid walker could completely ruin that at any moment." She threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "I mean, we're talking about this walker as though it's not a damn monster! Just shoot the bloody thing and let's get this all finished."

I growled at her, completely forgetting that I was meant to be playing the part of 'good zombie'. But still, I could tell that this breather was going to be hard to convince.

The young Asian stepped forward. "I agree with Rick." He said, his group staring at him. "The walker was following us the whole time we were getting from the alley to here and not once did it run and attack. It had plenty of opportunities to, so why didn't it?"

"Maybe something happened when it was bitten?" A Spanish man said. "I don't know to be honest, but all I know is that we need to find out how to get out of here."

There was a crash on the door of the room and I turned to see a whole group of walkers pressing against the glass doors. It was only then that I realised we were in a clothing store. The group of breathers were staring, tense, as though expecting the door to break at any second.

_Boom boom!_ Gunshots echoed through the store and the group jumped in fright as more gunshots interrupted the strained silence.

"Was that Dixon?" Andrea said, moaning when another gunshot erupted over the sound of the other walkers trying to get into the store.

The group started toward the roof when Rick turned around and stared at me. "Someone needs to keep an eye on the walker."

No one volunteered and for a second I thought I might be able to make my escape. The Asian boy, Glenn I think his name was, groaned and said he would stay down here to watch over me. Forgetting I was meant to be on my best behaviour, I growled at the breather who in turn flinched but pointed his gun at me none the less.

"I'll shoot you." He warned.

I growled at him again but my heart wasn't in it and I settled back against the cold wall. The herd of walkers outside were close to breaking the first door, and though I didn't fear for my own life, I knew that I couldn't let the breathers die.

It had been so long since I had seen a breather that I didn't want to eat, so these new feelings for the group made me feel weird and slightly more human.

The silence was broken by another gunshot and Glenn groaned and mumbled under his breath, clutching the gun harder. Every few seconds, he would glance at me as if to see whether I was about to pounce on him and devour him whole. As hungry as I was, the idea of eating this boy or the others seemed horrible even to me, the dead one.

* * *

After 20 minutes or so, Glenn had grown so restless that he was pacing up and down the shop and I could see from my spot by the wall that the walkers outside were following him, moving their heads side to side as though watching a tennis game.

I was about to growl at Glenn and try and signal him to stop ringing the dinner bell with his pacing when the other breathers came racing downstairs. Glenn stopped walking and jogged up the cop breather, Rick.

"Where's Merle?" He asked.

Rick shook his head and sighed deeply. "He's on the roof still, handcuffed to a pipe."

The irony was so delicious that I laughed to myself internally, glaring at the handcuffs attached to my own wrists.

Glenn was so surprised that Rick launched into a story about how this guy, Merle, had been getting cocky and aggressive so he was handcuffed to the roof with Rick's spare handcuffs. The big black man, T-Dog, was now on the roof, keeping an eye on Merle while the others were down here.

"Ok," Glenn said. "So what's the plan now?"

"We looked out onto the streets and we thought we could find a manhole cover to make our way through the sewers, but there was none. Jacqui here thinks we can access the sewers through the basement."

A skinny black woman, Jacqui, nodded enthusiastically and Glenn nodded. Rick looked at me and asked if I had been behaving.

"She's been fine, but she growled a couple of times. I think the walkers outside are making her nervous."

God, in that instant, I wished I could talk more than anything in the world. Of course they were making me nervous, but not because I was scared for me. If these breathers didn't get out soon, they would be the next course on the menu.

Rick said nothing, but asked everyone to go to the basement with him to see if there was any way to get out. I angrily shook my handcuffs, wanting to warn them to hurry up and get out of this death trap.

A couple of minutes, Rick and Andrea were back while the others stayed and kept an eye out for Glenn while he made his way through the sewers.

"Sorry for the gun in your face." I heard Andrea say to Rick.

"People do things when they're afraid." He replied, walking through the shop with Andrea in tow.

Andrea scoffed. "Not that it was entirely unjustified. You did get us into this."

"If I get us out, would that make up for it?"

"No," Andrea said. "But it'd be a start."

Rick smiled and glanced over at me. I tried to look as innocent as possible but failing miserably when I snapped and angrily shook the handcuffs again. I may be a smart zombie, but I was still a zombie at the end of the day. All instinct and no brain.

Miraculously, he ignored me and turned back to Andrea. "Next time though, take the safety off; don't shoot otherwise."

Andrea pulled out her gun and Rick walked over to her to inspect it. "Is that your gun?"

"It was a gift, why?"

He reached out for it and Andrea handed it to him. I heard a small click from the gun. "The little red dot means it's ready to fire." He explained. "You may have occasion to use it."

Andrea nodded. "Good to know."

* * *

For what seemed like an eternity, I was alone while the group were on the roof, trying to figure out how to get out. Glenn had resurfaced, telling everyone the bad news that it was a dead end and the sewers were littered with my kind.

As I was half-heartedly tugging at my handcuffs, the group ran back downstairs and inspected the door. The walkers were getting close to coming in so whatever was in their mind, I was hoping that it would work.

"If bad ideas were an Olympic event, this would take the cold." Glenn said, referring to a plan they had obviously come up with on the roof.

Rick ran around the store, grabbing gloves and protective gear. Whatever he was thinking, it was obviously going to be very messy.

"He's right, just stop." Morales said to Rick. "Take some time to think this through."

"How much time? They already got through one set of doors and that glass won't hold forever." He replied, throwing a white coat to Glenn.

Morales sighed but shrugged on a white coat none the less. "There's a few out in the alley; we could grab one of them."

Rick and Morales ran out of the store while the group waited. I rattled my handcuffs a few times but they completely ignored me, focussing on the task at hand.

There was a crash and the sound of something heavy dragging across the ground. I turned my head at the sound and my eyes widened in disbelief.

_Oh my god, they're not! What the hell are they thinking?_

It didn't take a genius to work out that this plan was going to go very wrong for a certain group of breathers.

* * *

**Oh my god you guys, you are all amazing! I know this chapter was slow, but it's building up to a dramatic next chapter. Not to give away too much, but it's a bit of a change to the original storyline! I'll try not to be so slow this time, but I have exams coming up soon so I've been trying to fit this in when I can. **

**Once again, you are all simply amazing! Thank you all so much!**


	5. Updates

Hi all!

Just wanted to let you all know that updates are on my profile, so if you're desperately waiting for a chapter, pop onto my profile and check out the updates.

Thank you all for your continued support and the next chapter will be up in the next couple of days :)

*HarryPotter009*


	6. Screaming from the Rooftops

**Hi my wonderful and amazing readers! I am so sorry that this has taken so long and I feel really slack for not putting it up sooner. Anyway, here is the next chapter and I hope you all enjoy it. I'm not really feeling it, but I think it will please you all. In all honesty, I'm looking forward to the next chapter more! It's certainly going to be interesting.**

* * *

"Hey, what's happening, man?" I heard a man yell to Morales as the rest of us burst onto the roof, Andrea leading me along on a chain attached to the cuffs on my wrists. A quick scan of the roof revealed a man, probably Merle, handcuffed to a pipe while T-Dog was leaning against the wall opposite him, guarding an old police radio.

Morales ignored him and signaled to T-Dog. "Hey, T-Dog, try that CB."

The redneck, Merle, growled out, "Hey come on, talk to me ya'll."

As T-Dog tried to reach the rest of their group just outside of Atlanta on the old CB, Andrea led me over to where Merle was handcuffed and pushed my bony shoulder, making me sit down.

"Why the hell have you got a walker with you, are ya'll crazy?" Merle screeched, trying to get away from me and failing miserably as he fell onto his back and got up just as quick. I growled at him but decided to play nice, as long as the breathers didn't harm me, then I wouldn't harm them.

"Enjoy your new playmate, Merle." Andrea said, wrapping the chain around the pipe and yanking it, testing to make sure it held.

"Base camp, this is T-Dog. Can anybody out there hear me?" T-Dog said into the radio, only getting static in return. "We're trapped in a department store; there are Geeks all around us."

Morales, Andrea and Jacqui looked over the edge of the roof, scanning for Glenn and Rick. "There!" Morales shouted, putting his binoculars down.

The redneck next to me jumped as a loud rumble of thunder rolled across the sky and everyone looked at the looming clouds, frowning. I had been in Atlanta for months and I knew that this wasn't a good sign. It meant a cloud burst was coming, and though it would only last a few minutes, they always carried heavy rain, washing away anything and everything. Usually it would wash away mud on the ground, but this time, it would probably wash blood away.

"That asshole's out on the street with the handcuff keys?" Merle asked and frowned when T-Dog held up the key in his hand, like a knight holding up his sword.

There was one last rumble of thunder before rain started to pour. _Oh man._

"Oh man." Morales said, echoing my thoughts. "It's just a cloud burst. We get them all the time; it'll pass real quick."

_Yeah, but not quick enough, _I thought. _The smell of the walker will wash off of them faster than you can blink. _I knew how we walkers worked. We found our prey through sound and sight, but our most reliable sense was our sense of smell. Most of the time, we could pinpoint a breather's exact location from miles away, all because of their stink.

As the rain continued to pour, my buddy next to me kept stirring and giving me dirty looks. He would glance at me, I'd stare back and he'd scoff and glare at me. He didn't seem to grasp the fact that because I was already dead, I wasn't scared of. _Breathers can be even more stupid than walkers._

"Oh shit." Morales suddenly said, still looking through the binoculars. "I think the Geeks can smell them."

"What the hell is going on down there? Would somebody tell me what's happening for a God damn change." Merle said, shaking his handcuffs in anger. When he saw me looking at him, he growled. "What the fuck are you looking at, you pile of rotting meat?"

I snapped my teeth at him which sent him reeling, holding onto the pipe to keep steady. "This is fucking nuts, having a walker here with us." He muttered, but shut up after a minute or two.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Morales urged while Andrea and Jacqui did the same thing.

After a bout of silence, there was an almighty bang, like the sound of a car crashing.

Andrea cried out and held onto Morales arm. "They're leaving us behind, Morales! Please come back!"

As the breathers panicked, I pivoted my head in the direction of the wind where I could hear a faint noise. Was it a bell ringing? No, it sounded like a car alarm. Every walker in the city could probably hear it, but for now, the breathers were oblivious to it all.

The CV next to T-Dog crackled and the voice of Glenn suddenly echoed around the rooftop. "Those roll-up doors facing the streets. Meet us there and be ready!"

The breathers jumped into action, grabbing all of their gear and heading for the access door, completely forgetting about the two people (well, one of us was) handcuffed to the giant pipe. Merle arched his back and jumped onto his knees, pleading with the group to uncuff him.

"Come on, let's go!" Morales urged, completely ignoring Merle.

Andrea stopped and turned around, glancing at me. "What about the walker?"

"Leave it here. We can't take a geek to the camp with the children there."

"Didn't Rick say to look after it?" Jacqui said, grabbing a bag.

Morales shook his head. "We don't have time right now. We need to think about us."

Andrea and Jacqui look conflicted but ran out of the door anyway without so much as a backward glance. _Great._

"Hey, you can't leave me here, I'm not fooling man!" Merle shouted, trying to get someone's attention. "Please don't do this! Please don't leave me with this walker!"

T-Dog hesitated and glanced from the door to the two of us. He screamed but headed over to us, knocking over a bag of tools and sending everything flying. Just as he was about to reach us, he tripped over his own feet and, hand outreached, flung the key into the drain. There was a long silence before Merle screamed at T-Dog, accusing him of doing it on purpose.

T-Dog apologized profusely, while backing up towards the door. I heard the sound of a click as T-Dog barricaded us onto the roof, sealing the death sentence.

"You're going to rot in hell! All of you are going to rot in fucking hell!" Merle screamed, tugging on his handcuffs.

"Calm… down." I growled at him. "Walkers… will… hear… you." I managed to get out, my vocal chords screaming at me.

He jumped, and stared at me in fright. "You can fuckin' talk?" I nodded and Merle looked like he was deciding whether to be scared or impressed. I knew he had taken the pissed-off road when he hit the pipe in anger and started pulling at the cuffs.

After a few minutes, Merle suddenly glared at me. "What the fuck do you know? You're already dead; they can't kill you twice! And you better not eat me, you rotting pile of meat."

I glared at him silently and shook my head. I could taste the heroin in his blood from here and I knew it would be a while until I was hungry enough to eat Merle Dixon.

As the minutes turned into hours, Merle eventually calmed down enough to sit still for a while, though he kept muttering to himself and I could only hear him saying names. "Rick, T-Dog, Andrea, Morales, Glenn, Jacqui. You're all fucking dead."

The day turned into night and he eventually stopped muttering and fell asleep, his arm making a cradle for his head. As if being dead wasn't enough, I was now stuck on the roof with a pissed off redneck who was ready to kill someone. Although I was already dead, I knew I wasn't safe. But it wasn't the time for being scared of an angry breather. Now was the time to escape and track down the group of breathers so I could prove I was not like the others. So I could prove I could belong.

* * *

Exposure had changed Merle. He was ranting at me, telling me about his life as though a dead person would really be interested.

"'That's right, you heard me bitch. You got a problem?'" He said, looking at the ground and I knew he wasn't talking to me. He was talking to himself while the sun cooked his brain.

"'Bring it on if you're man enough. Or take it up the chain if you're a pussy. You heard me you pussy-ass noncom bitch. Are you deaf? Take it up the chain of command or you can kiss my lily-white ass.'" He looked up and smile deliriously at me and I wiggled on my bony ass, trying to get away from him.

"That's right, that's what I said. 'You heard me.' Then this idiot takes a swing and, well…" Merle trailed off and chuckled to himself. "You should have seen the look on his face when I punched out his front teeth, all five of 'em." He brought his fists up and punched the air twice, making sound effects. "Just like that! 16 months in the stockade; that's what those teeth cost me. That was a hard time, but by god it was worth every damn minute. Just to see that prick spit his front teeth out on the ground."

He chuckled to himself again and absent-mindedly tugged at his handcuffs. Merle suddenly snapped and he threw himself up on his knees, pulling and yanking, screaming at the sky, cursing God and Jesus, begging them and crying.

I jumped when I heard a clang and I saw my fellow walkers had thrown the door open and were now pushing their faces through the gap, trying to claw their way in. Merle started crying then, screaming and sobbing like a baby with tears running down his cheeks and for a split second, I felt pure pity for him. He was right; he could die, but I was already dead. What would it matter if I was stuck on the roof for the rest of eternity?

"No, Jesus!" Merle shouted. "Please, I didn't behave, I know that. I know I'm being punished, I know I deserved it. I've been bad, but help me now. Show me the way, go on, and tell me what to do!"

Before I died, I was religious and went to church every Sunday with my family. I believed wholeheartedly that God was real and he would listen to anyone who needed help. But as I watched this man, this human, screaming like a child who had lost his mother, chained to a roof with a dead person next to him and more dead people trying to get in and eat him, I seriously doubted his existence.

As the walkers opened the door even more, Merle suddenly rolled under the pipe and got his belt out and hit the ground, trying to reach the handsaw on the other side of the pipe. When he got the saw in his hand, he yelled in triumph and grinned at me like a president who had just won the election. _I wonder what happened to the President,_ I thought briefly and shook my head as I watched Merle trying to saw at the strong metal cuffs.

"That's okay, never you mind silly Christ boy. I ain't begged you before and I ain't gonna start now. I'll never beg you, I never will!" He screamed, sweat running down his face.

I was trapped on the roof with a mad man who was probably going to kill me after he was free. He didn't seem to realize that the handsaw in his hand was too blunt and too rusty to cut through the strong links in the cuffs. Merle was slowing down, the look in his eye getting crazier. He was reaching breaking point, I could tell and there was no knowing what he would do to get off of the roof. As I watched him sawing at the cuffs, I thought of how I would get off of the roof. Surely Merle would have enough decency to help me off of the roof too, but there was no knowing with him. I would just have to sit and wait and hope that the crazy, coked-up redneck next to me would help me one way or another.

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** Well, this chapter was certainly interesting to write and at the start, I was going to let our smart walker go with the group, but then I thought it would be much more interesting for her to be stuck on the roof with our favourite pissed off redneck.**

**I know I didn't include a whole lot about our smart walker, but this chapter is leading up to an important bit in the next chapter and we will see more from her point of view then.**

**In the next chapter, we'll see how Merle escapes and we will discover the fate our smart walker!**

**Next chapter will be up soon :) Thank you all for the lovely reviews and you're all amazing!**


	7. New Found Humanity

**Hello you fabulous people! Thank you all so much for holding in there while I got my ass into gear to produce this chapter. My life has been beyond hectic, but I thank you all once again for sticking with me. Your support and kindness makes it all worth while. I wrote this chapter in a hurry during my break, so it's not my best, but I really wanted those two to get off the damn roof! So here we are, wonderful people!**

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For the first time since my transformation, I dreamed. I dreamt of my family and friends, all long gone and all probably walkers. My whole life seemed to flash in front of my eyes and the gaps that were created when I died were suddenly filled in again and I could remember almost everything; all except for my name. My name, which was the thing that made me _me_ was dead, lost, forgotten.

As I sat on the roof, handcuffed next to Merle Dixon, I thought of my name. Was it a long or short name? Was it exotic or was it a plain name that was so common, it wasn't worth remembering. How did my parents come up with it? Was it a dead relative's name, or did they spend hours poring over baby books, trying to find the perfect one?

Here I was, trapped on a roof and all I could think of was my name. I scoffed as I tumbled back into reality and accidentally woke up Merle who still had the handsaw in his hand as he slept. With a quick glance at the door, I saw that there were no longer any walkers left at the door. Had they really been there or was I, along with Merle, imagining them?

"What's going on?" He grumbled, rubbing his one of his eye with his free hand. "What's the time?"

I shrugged, reminding him I was dead and besides, I had no watch on my wasted wrist. Merle grumbled again and tugged at his handcuffs as he did every few minutes. Judging from how many days we had seen, Merle and I had been stuck on the roof for exactly two days. I had had two days of no feeding, and Merle had had two days of no water, causing him to become delirious. As Merle moved his hands, I noticed that his wrist was bleeding and he had deep gouges in the skin. He would have to watch out, or else he could get an infection.

"Why don't you talk no more?" Merle asked me. "I thought you were a smart zombie or some shit."

I tried to say something, but all the came out of my mouth was a wheeze and so I shook my head in disappointment. Merle huffed and went back to inspecting the strong handcuff chains. I had never seen a man look so intent in what he was doing and for a second, I was worried about Merle busting a gasket.

I lurched as a thump went throughout my chest, warming my cold, rotting body for a split second. _Is that… my heart again?_ Shaking, I lifted my hand to my chest and placed it under my tattered t-shirt. I felt a faint thump which finished as quickly as it had come. I shrugged down in disappointment, but realized that I was making progress. Was it possible to cure myself just through the simple task of feeling pity?

"Fuck!" Merle erupted, rudely awakening me from my thoughts. "This fucking chain is too strong and that old prick's handsaw is too blunt." He turned to me. "Looks like I'm not getting out of here any time soon."

One shoulder went up as I tried to tell him that I had no clue how to help. In all honesty, I knew the only way Merle would be able to get off this god forsaken roof is if he made a huge sacrifice and cut his hand. But, it was either that, or die from exposure and dehydration out here. Of course, I would still continue decomposing on the roof, deteriorating until I finally stopped moving.

As Merle continued tugging at his handcuffs, I wondered if he knew there was only one way out of this mess and as he looked back at me with a look of defeat, it seemed obvious that he was aware of his fate. Merle slapped at his face angrily, wiping a tear away from his cheek and plastered on his usual pissed off look. "I ain't fucking crying." He said, looking at me. "There's too much fucking dust up on this roof."

Once again, my shoulder went up. "Don't… care." I said, surprised at how easily the words came out now.

Merle looked at me in surprise. "I thought you couldn't talk anymore?"

"Getting… easier." I replied. And it _was_. Not even a few hours ago my throat had screamed at me as I tried to mutter a few words out. But now, they slid out, like a boat gliding down a river. Pleased at my progress, I tried a few more words. "You… have… to cut… off… your hand."

The redneck nodded glumly at me and shook his head. "Still can't believe I'm taking advice from a dead body." I gave a small bark which was my version of a laugh and for a second, I felt human again. The thump returned in my chest, stronger than last time and it beat 7 times before it stopped again.

"So when did you turn?" Merle asked.

The vision of men storming in and shooting my people came crashing in front of my eyes. The tall man, their leader, stabbing me in the stomach, twisting the knife as I begged for mercy. I could hear a man's voice shout at me, my name, but it slipped from my mind before I comprehend what he had said. As the blood poured out of my stomach, I watched as my boyfriend was shot in the face, never to wake again. _Kyle!_ The name raced back to me, hitting me like a lightning bolt. Finally, I could remember someone's name. Was my memory coming back too?

"Months… ago. Big man… big knife… stabbed me… then I died." I said, clearing my dry throat. I could have really used a drink then.

"Were you by yourself?"

I shook my head. "Group of us… they died too… but they… didn't turn…"

"So you've been in Atlanta since you turned?" He asked.

I nodded. "Since… the start… of all… of this."

Since we had started talking, I had noticed that Merle seemed more calm and in control. Had the sun well and truly cooked his brain or was he simply so delirious from the lack of water that he was now playing nice?

Merle nodded and continued inspecting his cuffs. After a minute or two of silence, he cleared his throat. "My brother is out there somewhere. Little bastard will fuck everyone up when he finds out what Officer Friendly did to me. It'll be good to see his stupid face again." He chuckled.

I nodded but doubted that Merle would see his brother if he didn't man up and cut his hand off. "So… what… are you… going to do… now?" I asked.

Merle shrugged and lent against the pipe. "I know what I need to do." He pretended to be inspecting his free hand. "But I dunno if I can do it. Ya know, cut it off."

"Just do it." I coughed out. "Or you'll… end up… like me. Only uglier." I said, smiling my dead smile.

Merle grinned. "For a dead chick, you sure are a cheeky bitch."

When the brief happiness was gone from the air, I gestured to the handsaw. "Do it."

He shook his head. "I will, I just gotta build up the courage, ya know."

I frowned. "Just… bloody do it. The pain… won't be… any different… if you wait… another hour."

Merle picked up the handsaw and inspected it. He turned it over and over again, staring at it from all angles. He nodded before placing the handsaw over his wrist, and slid it across his skin. He hissed but suddenly started hacking at his wrist, blood flying everywhere.

_Holy shit, this man is going to do more damage than ever if he doesn't slow down._

"Slow… down." I said.

He shook his head and kept going, screaming now, louder and louder. There was an almighty _crack_ and Merle's hand was on the ground. He stared at it in disbelief and then threw the handsaw down. "Man, I don't feel so good." He said, looking at the stump on the end of his arm.

I gave an almighty heave at my wrist and suddenly I too was free. My wrist had thankfully wasted a little bit more from the lack of food and was now skinny enough to slip through the small cuff hole. I stumbled forward and grabbed at Merle's arm. He lurched away but stopped when he realized I wasn't going to start munching on him.

"We need… to close it. Before… you bleed… out." I explained and he nodded.

We both crashed through the roof door where there were thankfully no walkers. Huffing and puffing, we worked down several flights of stairs before a female walker leaped at Merle, trying to get to his bloody arm. Instincts driving me forward, I screeched and pounced on the walker. With the remaining strength I had, I grabbed her hair and wrenched upwards, ripping her head off of her shoulders.

Merle stared at me in disbelief as I got up but gave me a nod of thanks and pointed to a corner in the room. There on a bench sat a Bunsen burner, waiting for us. Merle rushed forward, switched it on and without any hesitation, threw his stump over it. He screamed as his skin melted together over the hole, sealing off the blood flow.

His screaming had attracted another walker. This one was far gone, obviously spending his time indoors with no food. I ran forward again and ripped the walker's head off with hardly any effort needed.

"We need… to leave!" I screamed at Merle. He nodded and inspected his arm, panting like he had just run a marathon.

New found strength coursed through me as we ran the rest of the way and out a side door.

"Where to now?" Merle asked, still cradling his arm like a baby.

I shrugged. "You tell me."

"We… well, I, need water and food. I'm gonna keel over if I don't have some water soon."

I nodded. "Water… and then we get… out of here. Deal?"

Before waiting for a response, I ran forward with Merle trying to keep up after me. As my new found humanity coursed through me, I thought of where we were going to go next. Should we find the group in Atlanta or make it on our own? As Merle Dixon, the racist, sexist redneck, huffed and puffed after me, I couldn't help but wonder what adventure we were going to have next. And would this new found friendship last? I guess I'll have to wait and find out…

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**Don't freak out people, this isn't the end of the story :) Just the start of the next stage in our wonderful walker's journey :)**


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